Dating the "Admonitions": Advance Report
MALCOLM LOWERY
Malcolm Lowery (B.A. Hons., Newcastle Upon Tyne) is a freelance
translator and Editor of the S.I.S. Review, to which he has
contributed several articles.
Velikovsky places the events recorded in the "Papyrus Ipuwer"
contemporary with those of the Exodus, which coincides in the revised
chronology with the end of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. A paper
examining the ramifications of this conclusion is being prepared, and
is offered here in summary.
In his book Ages in Chaos, Velikovsky quotes the Admonitions of Ipuwer
as an "eye-witness account of the Plagues", assuming a date for the
composition contemporary with the end of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt,
where he also places the Exodus. This dating was espoused by Sethe,
but only briefly considered by Gardiner, who nevertheless felt it best
to avoid too definite a statement in his 1909 examination of the
papyrus: "The view that our Leiden papyrus contains allusions to the
Hyksos has the better support from the historical standpoint, but
philological and other considerations seem rather to point to the
seventh and tenth dynasties [between Old and Middle Kingdoms] as those
which have provided the background of events." (Admonitions of an
Egyptian Sage, Leipzig. 1909, p. 18) Adducing new evidence in his
conclusion, he felt able to apply the statements regarding the
Asiatics to the conditions of the earlier period, and gave as his
final verdict on the Admonitions: It need not be too hastily assumed
that their composition was contemporary with the events to which they
allude; historical romance was always popular in Ancient Egypt, and
there is no inherent reason why the Admonitions, even if referring to
the conditions of the Tenth Dynasty, should not have been written
under the Twelfth." (p. 111).
Gardiner thus settled for a date contemporary with the great flowering
of Egyptian Literature during the Middle Kingdom. The consensus,
however, is now that the text was composed during the decline of the
Old Kingdom, thus antedating other Middle Egyptian works; and this is
the view Gardiner eventually adopted (cf. Gardiner: Egypt of the
Pharaohs, Oxford, 1961, p. 111).
A few scholars, however, have preferred to see the Admonitions as a
work of the Second Intermediate Period, as concluded by Velikovsky,
John Van Seters assembled a good deal of evidence of different kinds
for this view (JEA 50, 1964 13-23), and received the support of
William Albright (BASOR 179, 1965, 40f,; BA 36, 1973, 30), as well as
being corroborated independently by some late researchers.
The survey of the literature treating this topic which is nearing
completion will have a number of novel (though not entirely original)
conclusions to offer. In furtherance of this research, a growing
collection of books and articles dealing solely or extensively with
the Admonitions has been amassed, along with many works touching on
the work with regard to specific points and a wealth of general
literature; but, for the purpose of this summary, we shall approach
the questions through Van Seters' paper.
Van Seters outlines his thesis under a number of distinct heads. These
are:-
Ethnic terms. Van Seters indicates that the terms used for foreign
people - Nubians, Libyans, Asiatics and others - are, as a group, more
appropriate to the Thirteenth Dynasty (and the time of the Hyksos
invasion) than to an early period. He cites in particular the passage
14:11-14.
Foreign Relations. This rests on the passage 3:6-10. This passage, he
feels, using evidence from throughout the Near East, "reflects Egypt's
foreign relations and cultural influence beyond its borders in the
early Second Intermediate Period" (p. 17). In particular, "the word
'Keftiu' is not found in the Old Kingdom and is even rare in the
Middle Kingdom" (p. 16).
Social and Administrative Development. Van Seters refers here to two
major institutions: slavery and the hnrt. The position of slave (hm),
he says, is specifically a product of the M.K.: the O.K. citizen would
employ a "servant" (b3k). Yet the term hm occurs in the papyrus no
less than seven times. He also sees reference in 6:5-12 to the hnrt or
hnrt wr, "Great Prison", which "functioned both as a prison and as a
court of law", and to the hpw nyw hnrt "Laws of the Prison". Besides
this criminal code the hnrt also held census-lists of slaves. "These
records were important for establishing a slave's status.' (p.18) Line
6:7-8 therefore reflects a deliberate attempt to destroy this
evidence.
Literature. "The genre of literature to which the Admonitions belongs
also constitutes a problem for an early date, because it cannot be
associated with anything from the Old Kingdom. Its affinities are
certainly with texts of the Middle Kingdom. In this it is said to
anticipate them, but, in fact, by its evident association with a
variety of forms, Gattungen, it certainly follows them." (p. 19).
Likewise, the papyrus reflects established M.K. dogmas which would
have meant little before this time.
The Political Situation. Here Van Seters deals with the way the M.K.
was brought low, concentrating on the Asiatic factor. He finds the
following circumstances attested by the Admonitions, all of which fit
the fall of the M.K. better than the end of the O.K.:- The Asiatics of
the Delta have assumed sedentary occupations (4:8), whereas the
earlier period knows only Beduins making sporadic border raids or
infiltrating to find grazing land; later in the M.K., however, a large
element of Egypt's slave population was Asiatic. - Asiatics in Egypt
have become assimilated to Egyptian culture, often bearing Egyptian
names, frequently rising to positions of authority (1:9; 3:2). - The
frontier with Asia is a beaten path, and no longer the source of pride
and security it was (3:1; 4:6) - not through inadequate provision, but
as a result of the growing trading traffic with countries to the
north-east. - The fall of Egyptian authority was abetted by an Asiatic
fifth column (originally recruited, suspects Van Seters, as frontier
police, a policy which was more successful when applied to the Md3yw
of the south: 14:14-15:2), and by Egyptian collaborators (7:2-4).
None of these find good parallels in the comparable descriptions of
the Instructions for Merikare, the Prophecy of Neferty or the Story of
Sinuhe (all XIIth-Dynasty texts), but the linking of Nubians (nhsyw)
and Libyans (tmhw) as a threat is matched by formulae in the
Execration Texts, for which Van Seters prefers a late M.K. date.
It can be seen that the field of enquiry is a wide one. The proposed
survey will cover the above areas along with others, dealing with the
following questions:-
1. The Papyrus. Though known as The Admonitions, from the section late
in the composition which Gardiner rightly identified as the fulcrum of
the work, the papyrus consists for most of its length of a catalogue
of laments. Our investigation starts with a necessary overview of the
work.
2. The Historical Situation. "The content of the Admonitions doubtless
reflects a very troubled period in Egypt's history, and this logically
offers the alternatives of the First and Second Intermediate Periods."
(Van Seters, op. cit., p. 13) Though both of these were times of
internal disruption showing remarkable similarities, there are also
significant differences which may help establish a frame of reference
for the statements in the Admonitions. This situation is complicated,
however, by the use of Ipuwer's laments whenever a characterisation of
the breakdown of the O.K. is required. Indeed, the wheel has come full
circle: Goedicke (ZDMG 112, 239) admits that the "dismal images" of
the papyrus "have to a great extent formed our ideas of the end of the
Old Kingdom," and Kees (Handbuch der Orientalistik, I. 15) assigns it
to this period explicitly because its "Zeitgeist is unmistakeable"!
3. The Literary Context. It is important to appreciate the links
between our papyrus and numerous other Middle Egyptian works - besides
those mentioned above, we must take note of the Tale of the Eloquent
Peasant, the Dispute of a Man Weary of Life with his Soul (the
Lebensmüder) and the Lament of Kha-kheper-re-sonbe, among others. This
"wisdom literature" can be classified into "pessimistic works" and
"didactic treatises" - but the border is a fluid one: many factors are
common to a number of works, and influence on or by the Admonitions
may be identified.
4. The Author. An historical 'Ipw-wr has been recorded; he was "Master
of the Minstrels" at the Memphite court of the O.K. Would we be
justified in identifying this man - a noted celebrity - as the author
of the Admonitions? Or may this be an example of what Gardiner
(Egyptian Grammar, Oxford, 1957, p. 24b) has called "the Egyptians'
love of ancient attributions"? Either course would seem to imply that
the events described were those of the First Intermediate Period.
5. The Audience. "[Ipuwer] is standing before the 'Lord of All', which
is elsewhere an epithet of the great gods, but here no doubt indicates
the King." This short statement by Lange (SBPAW 26. 1903, p.602)
refers to the only line of the papyrus containing the name of Ipuwer
(15:13 - dd.t.n 'Ipw-wr wsb.f n hm n Nb r Dr - "What Ipuwer said when
he answered the majesty of the Lord of All") and encapsulates the
threads of a controversy which still continues, and seems no nearer
resolution.
("Lord of All" - Nb r Dr - as an epithet of the gods is usually
applied to Re' or Atum; for Osiris as Nb r Dr see D. Cardona: "The Sun
of Night', Kronos III, 1, 1977, p. 36. Nb r Dr as an occasional title
of the pharaoh is attested in the salutation to the speaker's son
Senwosre, in the Instructions of Amenemhet I. Support for the
assumption that Ipuwer is addressing the king is also found in the
clear parallels to the situation in the Eloquent Peasant and in the
Westcar papyrus, which shows Snofru holding court with his magicians.
Nor does the inclusion of hm conventionally translated "majesty", but
admitted by Gardiner to be obscure (Grammar, p. 74), clarify the
issue; this can likewise apply to gods as well as to pharaohs, and a
later interpretation of the term dispenses with the need for a speaker
to be dead - as is assumed by several contemporary German scholars for
Ipuwer - before addressing the hm of a god).
6. The Good Shepherd. Van Seters makes much of the emphasis placed on
the "Middle Kingdom dogma" of the pharaoh as herdsman of his people.
Even if we accept that Ipuwer is here addressing the king, a proper
reading of the passage in question must reject Van Seters' argument as
over-simplified: moreover, a text written before establishment of this
dogma may casually well refer to it, but as part of the process of
imposing it. (Such traditions did not arise out of the spontaneous
expression of the popular will in the manner we take to be normal in
modern democracies).
7. The Prophetic Tradition. Lange (op. cit., pp. 606-7) saw a section
of the Admonitions (11:13-12:5) as a "Messianic prophecy", a view
which has been adopted and modified by some later researchers. The
prophetic tradition in Egyptian literature is a long one, which has
its roots in the Old Kingdom. Whatever its date, the prophecy in the
Admonitions, if we take it as such, is a secondary development of this
(though not taken as far as in the Prophecy of Neferty, where it is
made post eventum). Again, a comparative investigation of the
literature is deemed necessary.
8. Internal Affairs. Corresponds to Van Seters' Social and
Administrative Development", and tests his thesis in this area against
other available evidence.
9. Social Disorder. There are several theories to explain the upsets
in the social fabric evinced by Ipuwer's laments. Advocates of a late
dating see it as lawlessness in the wake of the usurpation of
government by the Hyksos; those in favour of the early dating see it
as a description of the state of anarchy and civil war known to exist
after the collapse of the O.K. dynasties; the desperation of suffering
caused by famine has also been proposed (among the places broken into
are listed the grain stores).
10. Foreign Relations. Discussed by Van Seters above. The assignment
of the circumstances referred to in the papyrus is facilitated here,
too, by reference to other works of literature, notably the travels of
Sinuhe.
11. The Asiatics. Egypt had trouble with foreigners violating its
borders throughout its long history, the most lasting threat being
from the Asiatics ('3mw). As mentioned above, raids by Beduin bands
and trespassing by their herdsman were common in the O.K., and in the
conventional scheme, at least it is against these Asiatics that
Amenemhet I built his renowned "Wall of the Prince". According to the
point in time we choose for the work's composition, we can take the
references to the Asiatics to refer either to these or to the Hyksos
invaders. On the latter, specialist opinion is divided: the consensus
rejects the picture of a shock invasion related by Manetho (Against
Apion I, 74-75) and advocates a gradual takeover abetted by Asiatic
collaborators (which brings the M.K. Asiatic slaves into the field of
study), whilst a minority are determined that Manetho's report be
respected and have little time for the idea of a fifth column (hardly
necessary to an armed invasion). The identity of these people also
affects the conclusions: if Amalekites, a destructive invasion is more
likely; if western (Palestinian?) Asiatics, infiltration. Almost the
only matter on which conventional opinion at present agrees is the
derivation of the Greek word Hyksos from the Egyptian hk3 h3swt,
meaning "rulers of foreign (hill-) countries." The forty-year-old
remark of an American scholar, that "to touch upon the Hyksos problem
is still much like stirring up a hornet's nest", has not yet lost its
relevance.
12. Disturbed Cosmic Order. Here we concentrate on the parallels
adduced by Velikovsky between our text and the remarkable descriptions
in the Prophecy of Neferty (conventionally dated in the M.K.; the
prophet formerly known as Neferrohu). Here again the Admonitions must
be seen in the wider literary context, and evidence from other fields,
such as Schaeffer's Stratigraphie Comparée, needs to be considered.
13. Construction of the Work. As mentioned above, the papyrus divides
readily into two sections: the extended and seemingly shapeless
catalogue of pessimistic observations and a heterogenous mixture of
injunctions, admonitions and hopes occupying the shorter second part.
Gardiner (Admonitions, p. 8) saw signs of the author's having spent
"but little pains upon the internal arrangement of the long
descriptive passage" and considered the repetition of a number of
lines at later points in the text strong evidence in support of this
finding. Erman, whilst finding cause to question further Gardner's
claim that there was no "progress in the thought" in the development
of the work, nevertheless does little to alleviate the general
impression of amorphousness and over length. It has been left to
recent German scholarship to offer a choice of theories to explain the
strange construction of the Admonitions, in each case the claim that
the text is not the individual creation of a single author raises
weighty implications for the dating.
14. Textual Correspondences. Besides the repeated lines within the
papyrus, there are several lines and couplets which show strong
similarity and in some cases total identity with passages in other
known Middle Egyptian works. Earlier researchers reached easy
conclusions on the dating of the composition from this. (Erman, noting
in which work the lines seemed "more at home", considered the work
younger than the Lebensmüder and older than the Instructions of
Amenemhet.) A number of factors which, though far from arcane, appear
to have eluded earlier scholars, have been given prominence in recent
work, and, taken together, strongly support the conclusions mentioned
in the last paragraph.
15. Versification. A student of Egyptian metre has established a
number of basic differences between the poetry of the O.K. and that
composed in the M.K. and later. (These are largely unpublished and
require specialist knowledge for a proper evaluation.) Applying these
to the Admonitions, he finds that the text is composed in the later
metre, but adds the emphatic caveat that this conclusion "is valid
solely and exclusively for the final redaction of the overall text";
there is evidence that parts of it may have existed originally in O.K.
metre.
16. Conclusions. Taking the above survey with the ambiguous evidence
of the linguistic usages found in the papyrus, it becomes clear that
those who have spoken for a simple First Intermediate Period dating or
for a straightforward Thirteenth Dynasty origin have been too glib,
and a broader solution is called for. This will be presented in the
full paper; while raising fundamental questions in a number of
details, it will offer evidence that Velikovsky was justified in his
claim that, as suspected by Gardiner, the Admonitions offer us an
eyewitness report of the events at the end of the M.K. Although the
paper is now at a late stage, the author will welcome any constructive
suggestions or information offered.
____________________________________________________
What Ipuwer Said
The flowing selection of lines from the Admonitions has been made to
give a general picture of the content of the papyrus, as well as to
illustrate the points made by Van Seters, who states that his
translations " are primarily those by Gardiner, Admonitions, and
Wilson, in Pritchard, ANET, 441-4. However, in a few instances I have
adopted other renderings." This selection, while based on Faulkner, is
therefore necessarily a composite, though readings differing widely
from the consensus have been avoided.
Dashes indicate words or passages missing or untranslatable in the
papyrus: dots show where omissions have been made in this selection.
(1,7) --- what was ordained for you in the time of Horus, in the age
of (8) [The Ennead(?) --- The virtuous man goes in mourning because of
what has happened in the land. --- (9) --- foreigners have become
Egyptians everywhere.
INDEED, the face is pale; (10) --- what the ancestors foretold has
arrived at [fruition(?)]. --- (2,1) the land [is] full of
confederates, and a man goes out to plough with his shield. ...
(2,3) INDEED, the Nile overflow, yet none plough for it. Everyone
says, "We do not know what will happen throughout the land."
(4) INDEED, women are barren and none conceive. Khnum [the
Creator-God] fashions men no more because of the conditions of the
land.
INDEED, poor men have become owners of wealth, and he who could not
make (5) sandals for himself is now a possessor of riches. ...
(2,10) INDEED, the river is blood, yet men drink of it. Men shrink (?)
from human beings and thirst after water.
INDEED, gates, columns and walls(?) are burnt up, (11) while the
hall(?) of the Palace stands firm and endures.
INDEED, the ship of [the Southerners] has broken up; towns are
destroyed and Upper Egypt has become an empty waste. ...
(3,1) INDEED, the Desert is throughout the land, the nomes are laid
waste, and barbarians from abroad have come to Egypt.
INDEED, people arrive --- (2) there are indeed no Egyptians anywhere.
...
(3-6) INDEED, the builders [of pyramids(?) have become]
field-labourers, and those who were in the sacred bark are now yoked
[to it(?)]. None indeed sail northward to (7) Byblos today; what shall
we do for cedars for our mummies, with the produce of which priests
are buried and with the oil of which (8) [kings] are embalmed as far
as Keftiu? They come no more; gold is lacking --- and materials(?) for
every kind of craft have come to an end.(9) The --- of the Palace is
despoiled. How often do the people of the oases come with their
festival spices, mats(?) and skins(?), with fresh redmet plants, (10)
grease(?) of birds --?
INDEED, Elephantine and Thinis(?) [are in the province(?)] of Upper
Egypt, (but) without (11) paying taxes owing to civil strife. ...(12)
... To what purpose is a treasury without its revenues? ...
(13) INDEED, laughter has perished, (14) and is [no longer] made; it
is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with complaints.
INDEED, every dead person is a well-born man. Those who were (4,1)
Egyptians [have become] foreigners and are thrust aside. ...
INDEED, (4-5) that has perished which yesterday was seen, and land is
left over to its weakness like the cutting of flax.
INDEED, (6) the entire Delta will not be hidden: the confidence of
Lower Egypt is (now) a beaten path. What (7) can one do? ... (8) ...
Asiatics are (now) skilled its the crafts of the Delta. ...
(5,11) INDEED, the ways are ---, the roads are watched; men sit in the
bushes until the benighted traveller comes (12) in order to plunder
his burden, and what is upon him is taken away. He is belaboured with
blows of a stick, and slain wrongfully.
INDEED, that has (13) perished, which yesterday was seen, and the land
is left over to its weakness like the cutting of flax, commoners
coming and going (14) in dissolution. Would that there were an end of
men, without conception, (6,1) without birth! Then would the land be
quiet from noise, and tumult be no more. ...
(3) INDEED, everywhere barley has perished ... (4) ...The storehouse
is empty and its keeper is stretched on the ground; a happy state of
affairs!(5) Would that I had raised my voice at that moment, that it
might have saved me from the pain in which I am.
INDEED, the private judgement-hall [or: prison], (6) its writings are
taken away and the mysteries which were [in it(?)] are laid bare.
INDEED, magic spells are divulged; shemu and sekhnu spells(?) are
frustrated (?) because they are remembered by men.
INDEED, public offices are opened and their census-lists are taken
away; the serf is become an owner (8) of serfs(?).
INDEED, [scribes(?)] are killed and their writings are taken away. Woe
is me because of the misery of this time!
INDEED, (9) the writings of the scribes of the mat have been
destroyed: the corn of Egypt is (now) common property.
INDEED, the laws (10) of the judgement-hall [or: prison] are thrown
out; indeed, men walk on them in the public places and poor men break
them up (11) in the streets.
INDEED, the poor man has attained to the state of the Nine Gods, and
the erstwhile procedure of the House of the Thirty is divulged.
(12) INDEED, the great judgement-hall is a popular resort, and poor
men come and go in the Great Houses. ...
(7,1) BEHOLD, the fire has gone up on high, and its burning goes forth
against the enemies of the land.
YEA, BEHOLD, things have been done which have not happened for a long
time past; the King has been deposed (2) by the rabble.
BEHOLD, he who was buried as a hawk is [devoid of(?)/set simply on(?)]
a bier, and what the pyramid concealed has become empty.
BEHOLD, it has befallen that a few lawless men (3) have deprived the
land of the kingship.
BEHOLD, men have fallen into rebellion against the Uraeus, the --- of
Re, which makes (4) the Two Lands peaceful.
BEHOLD, the secret of the land, whose limits were unknown, is
divulged, and the Residence is [or: will be] thrown down in a moment
[or: hour]. ...
(7) BEHOLD, the land has knotted itself up with confederacies. ...
(12) BEHOLD, he who could not built a boat for himself is now the
possessor of a fleet; their erstwhile owner looks at them, but they
are not his.
(13) BEHOLD, he who had no shade is now the possessor of shade, while
the erstwhile possessors of shade are now in the full blast(?) of the
storm.
BEHOLD, he who was ignorant of the lyre now possesses a harp, (14)
while he who never sang for himself now vaunts the Songstress-goddess.
...
(8,1) BEHOLD, he who had no property is now a possessor of wealth, (2)
and the magnate praises him.
BEHOLD, the poor of the land have become rich, and [the erstwhile
owner] of property is one who has nothing. ...
(10,3) LOWER EGYPT WEEPS. The king's storehouse is the common property
(4) of everyone, and the entire palace is without its revenues. To it
belong emmer and barley, fowl and fish; to it belong white cloth and
fine linen, copper and oil; (5) to it belong carpet and mat, ---
flowers and wheatsheaf and all good revenues. ...
--- (14,l0) in their midst (11) like Asiatics --- Men --- their
state(?); they have come to an end of themselves(?); (12) none can be
found to stand up and protect themselves(?). --- Every man fights for
his sister and saves (13) his own skin. Is it the Nubians? Then we
shall make our own protection. Fighting police(?) will hold off the
barbarians. Is it the Libyans? (14) Then we shall act again. The
Medjay [Madjayu] fortunately are with Egypt. How comes it that every
man kills his brother? The troops (15,1) which we recruited for
ourselves have turned into barbarians and have taken to destroying
that from which they took their being and showing the Asiatics the
state of the land; (2) all foreign peoples are in fear of it. ...
_________________
Those interested in a closer knowledge of the content of the papyrus
are referred to A. H. Gardiner: The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage
(Leipzig, 1909); Erman, tr. Blackman: The Literature of Ancient Egypt
(London, 1927), pp. 92-108; Faulkner, JEA 51 (1965), pp. 53-62;
Wilson, in ANET, pp. 441-4; or Kaster: The Literature and Mythology of
Ancient Egypt (London, 1970), pp. 206-214. As all translation,
especially from dead languages, is to some extent a matter of
interpretation, two or more of the above may usefully be compared
against each other.
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